BfS Awards 2010: the winners

Photograph © 2010 to, and used with kind permission of, Conrad Williams.

Here, as promised in yesterday’s blog, is a list of the winners of this year’s British Fantasy Society Awards, which were given out at FantasyCon 2010 on Saturday, 18th September 2010:

Best Novel: the August Derleth Fantasy Award

ONE, Conrad Williams (Virgin Horror)

Best Novella

THE LANGUAGE OF DYING, Sarah Pinborough (PS Publishing)

Best Short Fiction

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU WAKE UP IN THE NIGHT, Michael Marshall Smith (Nightjar)

Best Anthology

THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF BEST NEW HORROR 20, edited by Stephen Jones (Constable and Robinson)

Best Collection

LOVE SONGS FOR THE SHY AND CYNICAL, Robert Shearman (Big Finish)

The PS Publishing Best Small Press Award

TELOS PUBLISHING, David Howe

Best Comic/Graphic Novel

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE CAPED CRUSADER?, Neil Gaiman and Andy Kubert (DC Comics/Titan Books)

Best Artist

VINCENT CHONG, for work including covers for The Witnesses Are Gone (PS Publishing) and The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 20 (Constable & Robinson)

Best Non-Fiction

ANSIBLE, David Langford

Best Magazine/Periodical

MURKY DEPTHS, edited and published by Terry Martin

Best Television

DOCTOR WHO, head writer: Russell T Davies (BBC Wales)

Best Film

LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, directed by Tomas Alfredson (EFTI)

Best Newcomer – the Sydney J. Bounds Award

KARI SPERRING for LIVING WITH GHOSTS (DAW)

The British Fantasy Society Special Award: the Karl Edward Wagner Award

ROBERT HOLDSTOCK (creator/author of Mythago Wood)

One of the other awards given out on the night was for the British Fantasy Society Short Story Competition 2010. The winner was Robin Tompkins with his Omar the Teller of Tales. Travis Heermann came second with The Song, and in third place was Dan Malach with a story entitled Beating Heart.

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I’d like to extend my heartiest congratulations to all the winners, but especially to the late Robert Holdstock, who was a thoroughly deserving winner, a point very much underscored by the heartfelt applause after Ramsey Campbell’s little speech announcing the bestowing of the award.

On top of that, however, it emphasises the idea that hard work and persistence does pay off. More to the point, that each and every one of the winners has genuine talent, and hasn’t achieved all they have through injudicious shortcuts akin to something along the lines of the cultural desert that is X-Factor. For that fact alone, each of the winners (and let’s not forget the nominees) are to be warmly congratulated!!

Roll on FantasyCon 2011 in Brighton!!